A high speed turbo machine, such as, for example, a steam or gas turbine, generally comprises a plurality of blades arranged in axially oriented rows, the rows of blades being rotated in response to the force of a high pressure fluid flowing axially through the machine. Due to their complex design, natural resonant mechanical frequencies of the blades may coincide with or be excited by certain blade rotational speeds and rotational harmonics thereof. To prevent excessive vibration of the blade about its normal position, prudent design practice dictates that the blades be constructed such that the frequencies of the lowest modes fall between harmonics of the operating frequency of the turbine. In addition, the blades may be excited by non-synchronous forces such as aerodynamic buffeting or flutter. In order to avoid the vibration exceeding certain levels and setting up objectionable stresses in the blades, it is common to monitor the vibrations of the blades, both during the design and testing of the turbine and during normal operation of the turbine. For example, it is known to use non-contacting proximity sensors or probes to detect blade vibrations. The probes detect the actual time-of-arrival of each blade as it passes each probe and provide corresponding signals to a blade vibration monitor system (BVM). Small deviations due to vibration are extracted, from which the BVM may determine the amplitude, frequency, and phase of the vibration of each blade.
The measured vibration amplitude is highly dependent on correct positioning of the sensor above the blade target, which may comprise a target affixed to the blade, a feature of the blade, or the blade tip itself. In a typical measurement, the probes may be positioned to sense the passage of a leading edge or trailing edge of the blades.
In one known system of obtaining time-of-arrival data from rotating blades, a five lens laser line probe spreads a laser light into a line that spans a portion of the blade tip to be certain that either the leading blade tip edge or trailing blade tip edge is detected as the time-of-arrival. A pulse of light is produced by the laser light reflected from the tip edge as it passes the probe, and is received by the probe. If the probe is positioned over the leading edge, a leading pulse edge indicates the arrival of the leading blade tip edge, providing a vibration measurement at the leading tip edge. If the probe is positioned over the trailing blade tip edge, a falling pulse edge indicates the leaving trailing blade tip edge, providing a vibration measurement at the trailing tip edge. Such a measurement requires that the line of laser light overhang the leading or trailing edge to ensure that the leading or trailing edge is intercepted, and additionally requires that the probe for receiving the reflected light be accurately located to ensure that the focal point for the probe is located at or near the leading or trailing edge of the blade in that a “missed edge” condition will not be detected by this probe configuration
The difficulty in properly aligning a probe is increased by axial movements of the blades during operation, such as may occur as the rotor spins up or down, as the turbine warms up and cools down, as the load on the turbine changes, and due to torsional movements of the blades. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a BVM probe that is capable of providing time-of-arrival data substantially unaffected by axial movements of the blades.